Throughout history, women have fed nations while their voices were silenced, built and protected communities while they had few rights of their own and transformed history while carrying children on their backs.  Every time a woman plants a seed, builds a co-op to educate and empower other women, teaches their child how to farm or stands up to advocate for improved policy, she tends not only to the produce in her garden but also to the future.

2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer is an opportunity to celebrate and amplify the voices of these women.

Globally, women make up close to 40% of the agricultural labor force, reaching over 50% in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.  Over a third of all working women work in agriculture yet on average, these women earn 78 cents for every $1 their male counterparts earn.  Less than 15% of landowners globally are women due to unequal access to loans, less access to education and less access to technology.

In West Africa specifically, where you’ll find most of your cocoa sourced, women are indispensable.  In Côte d’Ivoire, they represent about 68% of the active cocoa workforce yet receive <5% of supportive services and are under‑represented in leadership. Even when women are able to secure access to resources or leadership positions, they often do not have power within their cooperatives or household to make governance decisions like what to plant or even how to spend their income. 

Yet, data shows that engaging women in decision-making and uplifting their opportunities has massive global impacts.

Maximo Torero, Chief Economist of the Food and Agriculture Organization, notes that “The cost of inaction is enormous. Closing the gaps between men and women in agriculture could raise global GDP by one trillion dollars and reduce food insecurity for 45 million people.”  

These women need a voice, deserve a voice. Fairtrade understands that engaging women in agriculture is crucial to creating equitable trade systems. We go beyond just including women when we provide technical support to smallholder farmers, but also ensure that women have a voice and a choice to exercise their knowledge to build more resilient and equitable food systems. For example, in the Climate Academy project implemented in Kenya and Ethiopia with coffee farmers, 76% of farmer households reported that women took part in joint decision-making over agriculture and income, compared to only 46% at the baseline. 

Stay tuned throughout the year for stories about how uplifting women farmers is the core of our Fairtrade model and to read more about the heroic women shaping our future.

“Agriculture is stronger when all voices are at the table, and women play a leading role in keeping our farms, families and communities moving forward.” - Zippy Duvall, President of the American Farm Bureau Federation